Early in World War II, an American Marine radio operator in the
jungles of Guadalcanal heard over his headset what sounded like
gibberish. At first, he thought it was the Japanese, whose forces were
fighting for control of the South Pacific island. But soon he discovered
that the chatter came from his own troops. "What's going on over there?" he radioed. "You guys drunk?"

Not at all. The Marine Corps actually had a top-secret experiment
in the works. Specially trained soldiers from the Navajo tribe were
sending coded messages back and forth in their own language. Before
long, Navajo "code talkers" were relaying vital battlefield
information faster than any code machines. And they could do it in a way
that baffled the Japanese code breakers.

It was one of the most ingenious moves in military history. The
movie Windtalkers, out in June, dramatizes the Navajo soldiers'
mission. From May 1942 to the war's end in August 1945, more than
400 code talkers served in some of the Pacific's bloodiest battles.
They were key in the Allied victory against Japan, but their
contribution was a military secret for decades.

CREATING THE CODE

The idea for the code talkers began with Philip Johnston, the son
of a missionary, who grew up on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and
spoke the language fluently. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December
1941, Johnston had a flash of inspiration:

Their language might offer a solution for the oldest problem in
military operations--sending a message that no enemy could understand.

Unlike English, the unwritten Navajo language is tonal. Just a
slight change in the pitch of one vowel can completely alter a
word's meaning. That makes their words almost impossible for most
people to pronounce correctly. In 1942, only about 30 outsiders spoke
the language fluently.

In May 1942, the Marines secretly recruited 29 young Navajo men and
had them create a military code (see "Language Barrier,"
left). The men turned to nature for many code words. "Dive
bomber" became "chicken hawk," and "tank"
became "tortoise." Code talkers could also spell out unusual
words. For the English letter "A," they might use
"ant," which in Navajo is "wol-la-chee."

An order that read "Company E, move 50 yards, left flank of
Company D" could be translated into code as: "Mexican ear,
mouse victor elk 50 yards, left flank ocean fish Mexican deer."
Spoken in Navajo, these words were incomprehensible to speakers of
English or Japanese. One U.S. soldier said the Navajo code sounded like
"American double-talk mixed with the sound that resembles water
being poured from a jug into a bathtub."

Though they suffered from discrimination and lack of certain
rights, the Navajo were eager recruits for the expanding Marine program.
Several 15-, 16-, and 17-year-olds lied about their age to enlist. Code
talker Teddy Draper found his new position ironic:

When I was going to boarding school, the U.S. government told us
not to speak Navajo. But during the war, they wanted us to speak it.

The code talkers proved valuable in many ways. In the summer of
1944, U.S. artillery accidentally began pounding fellow Americans on the
Pacific island of Saipan. The Marines being shot at radioed back
frantically to cease fire. But this sounded like a Japanese trick, and
the shelling continued. Finally, someone asked, "Do you have a
Navajo?" A code talker came on the radio, spoke to another Navajo,
and the shelling stopped.

The Navajo Marines were so important that they were assigned
bodyguards. The guards were to protect them from being mistaken for
Japanese and from being taken by the Japanese.

However, the life of a code talker was not as important as the code
itself. Only after the war did the Navajo soldiers find out that their
bodyguards had orders to shoot them if captured--an ethical dilemma Nicolas Cage grapples with playing a bodyguard in Wind-talkers. It never
came to that.

TAKING IWO JIMA

Comanche, Choctaw, and other Native Americans also served as code
talkers, but the Navajo were the largest and most influential group in
the war. Their shining moment came during the crucial battle for the
island of Iwo Jima, in early 1945. As one Marine officer, Maj. Howard
Connor, said:

The entire operation was directed by Navajo code.... They sent and
received over 800 messages without an error. Were it not for the Navajo
code talkers, the Marines never would have taken Iwo Jima.

After the war, the Navajo soldiers were told to keep quiet about
the code in case it was needed again. Finally, the Pentagon publicly
acknowledged the code talkers in 1969. They became instant
celebrities--marching in parades and appearing on TV. In July 2001, the
original code talkers received the Congressional Gold Medal, and
President Bush spoke of the hundreds who served and the 13 who died in
combat.

Today, the Navajo veterans are appreciative but modest. "The
Marine Corps is like a wheel with many different spokes," says code
talker Kee Etsicity. "The code talkers were one spoke."

Language Barrier

For their code, the Navajo Marines of World War II devised an
unwritten, memorized dictionary that assigned Navajo words to more than
450 frequently used military terms. The key: subtle pitch changes and
complex syntax. The result: a method of communication that baffled
Japanese code breakers. Below are some examples.

To help students understand one of the most intriguing episodes in
the history of American warfare: the Navajo code talkers of World War
II, who used their unwritten language to transmit messages the Japanese
could not decode.

Discussion Questions:

* Why do you think schools discouraged Navajo students from
speaking their language?

* Do you believe there is any special reason why the Navajo code
talkers turned to nature for their code words?

* What is your reaction to code talker Kee Etsicity's
observation that the code talkers were just one spoke in the Marine
Corps wheel?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Background: Students should understand that the Navajo code was
indecipherable to Navajo who had not learned the code dictionary. Each
code talker memorized these terms, so there were no code books that
could be captured. Indeed, one Navajo who was not a code talker was
captured and tortured by the Japanese, but he couldn't help them
because the code was gibberish to him.

Critical Thinking: Call students' attention to the
discrimination faced by Native Americans in the Western U.S. in the
1940s. Tell them that this discrimination included being denied the
right to vote. Further, living conditions on reservations were often
appalling.

Note Teddy Dapper's recollection about being discouraged from
using his language at school. Tell students that young Native Americans
were often punished when they were discovered speaking their language on
school grounds. Ask students why they think Navajo became eager
recruits, given the discrimination they faced.

Name Game: Enhance students' interests in this chapter of
history by having them draw up their own code words. On the board, copy
the list of military terms in "Language Barrier" and ask
students to brainstorm codes (one to three words) for each military
term. Caution students not to use words that sound too much like the
real thing.

Web Watch: To see the complete Navajo Code Talkers'
Dictionary, go to www. history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm To see the code
talkers exhibit at the National Security Agency, go to
www.nsa.gov/museum/talkers.html.

QUIZ 4 Use with History, pages 25-26. Fill in the blank.

1. The idea for the code talkers came from a man who was the son of
a -- to the Navajo.

2. The Navajo borrowed liberally from nature in building their code
dictionary of military terms. One example: " -- fish" was the
term they used for submarine.

3. Unlike English, Navajo is a tonal language, which means that
just a slight change in the -- of a vowel can completely change a
word's meaning.

4. The Navajo code talkers were so important to the military effort
that the Marines assigned them bodyguards, both to protect them from
being mistaken for -- and from being captured by the enemy.

5. In the battle for the critical island of --, Navajo code talkers
were called the key to victory.